In Watch_Dogs_2, gamers are invited to join DedSec, a group of hackers fighting against major corporations that are threatening citizens’ rights to privacy. To immerse gamers in this world, we invited them to become actual hackers and help stop a smart home corporation from coming to Canada and monitoring the private lives of our citizens. We asked Canadians to join us online and take part in the first ever live-hacking of a smart home. On October 13, 2016, for more than 45 minutes, gamers had the chance to remotely hack 51 connected devices. How? Simply by commenting on the Facebook and YouTube live streams. We turned the smart home corporation’s demo event into a fiasco by exposing their product’s flaws in real time and airing it all on a huge billboard in Yonge-Dundas Square, Canada’s equivalent of Times Square.

The DedSec_Live_Hack campaign was an interactive stunt that used Facebook Live and YouTube Live to let gamers feel the power of hacking, like in Watch_Dogs_2. To bring our idea to life, we took Canada’s most connected home and turned it into a fully hackable system. From a connected baby monitor to the shower, the speakers, the lights and more, the house contained 51 hackable objects in all. While it was being visited by people thinking they were experiencing a connected home demo, we invited Canadians to take part in the live-hacking mission on Facebook Live and YouTube. For 45 minutes, gamers could remotely trigger connected devices by commenting the streams, creating a beautifully chaotic mess inside the house. We also broadcast participants’ hacks in real time on a huge digital billboard in Yonge-Dundas Square—Canada’s equivalent of Times Square—to amplify the activation and generate even more hype.

The smart home takeover garnered more than 750,000 views over the campaign and 500,000+ impressions in under an hour during the live. At the time, it was the first time a brand had hosted an interactive event on Facebook Live. It was also the first time a Facebook Live video was broadcast live on a digital billboard. During the Facebook Live stunt, YouTube comments went into overdrive with peaks of more than 250 comments per minute, and overwhelmingly positive interactions. The campaign was even picked up by traditional media and generated more than 9.6 million impressions and reached eventually over a million Canadians.